RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Department of Intercollegiate Athletics inducted the 2026 Athletics Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor class on Saturday, including the 1995 women's cross country team, former women's basketball student athlete Sofia De Alva (1982-86), former men's track & field/cross country student-athlete Doug Erickson (1985-86), former baseball student-athlete Omar Ortiz (1997-99), and Dr. Frederick (Ted) & Catharyn von Ende, a pair of UTRGV super fans, the former of whom is a professor emeritus.
 
1995 Women's Sun Belt Conference Cross Country Champions
University's first Sun Belt Conference Championship … Team recorded 44 points … Hall of Famer Elizabeth Ortega earned individual conference title with 5K time of 17:34 … Jessica Garcia finished sixth with a time of 18:01 … Martha Gonzales finished ninth with a time of 18:30 … Ortega, Garcia, and Gonzales earned all-conference honors. Ortega was also named Outstanding Performer of the Meet … Gracie Salinas finished 12^th, Amy Sanchez placed 16^th, Linda Moncivais finished 23^rd, and Marina Flores came in 33^rd … Hall of Fame head coach Reid Harter earned Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year honors … Season was dedicated to men's cross country runner Adrian Martinez, who died in a car accident during Summer of 1995 … Team hosted the Adrian Martinez Invitational that season.
 
1995 Roster
Jeannette Brown
Mary Cano
Cathy Cavazos
Melissa Dearth-Wells
Marina Flores
Jessica Garcia
Martha Gonzales
Angie Jaramillo-Gonzalez
Linda Moncivais
Teresa Mora Olivares
April Orie
Elizabeth Ortega-Hilpert
Shelly Castillo Patterson
Angela Proctor
Lydia Reyes-Trevino
Gracie Salinas
Amy Sanchez
Carmel Myers Tosch
 
Head Coach – Reid Harter
Assistant Coach – Keith Hutson
 
"Returning to UTRGV truly feels like coming home," Ortega-Hilpert said. "We dedicated our winning season to the memory of Adrian Martinez. Jessica Garcia, who is no longer with us, was instrumental in helping us to secure our championship title and will always be part of our team's story. Jessica is deeply missed, especially today."
 
"When we saw that Coach Harter was able to recruit the top runners in 1993, we thought, man, we're going to be awesome," Salinas said. "When I think about 1995 team, I remember a team built on grit, heart, and a relentless commitment to one another. Our greatest moments didn't just happen on the finish line or winning conference titles; it happened in the mornings during training. In the 60-to-70 miles we logged week after week, we came away with friendships."
 
"We looked for character first and athletic ability second," Harter said. "We had a great tradition of long distance running in the Valley, so there we plenty of people to recruit from. Our team was made up mainly of those from Texas, the majority of whom were from South Texas. Coaching these ladies was one of the great pleasures of my life."
 
Sofia De Alva, Women's Basketball, 1982-86
First player in program history to reach double-figures in assists, doing so three times, including a program record 15 at Texas A&M-Kingsville (11/22/85). Also had 10 vs. Texas Southern (12/8/84) and Louisiana (11/30/85) … Graduated as single-season program record holder in assists with 119 in program's first NCAA Division I season (1985-86) … Held that record for 16 years … Led the NAIA with what was then a single-season program record (now ranks second) free throw shooting percentage of .889 (88-99) in 1984-85 … The 88 free throws made ranked second in program history at the time … Recorded what was then the second-highest single-season field goal percentage (now eighth) in program history at .474 (161-340) in first season at NCAA Division I level in 1985-86 … Made 161 field goals in 1985-86, which ranked third in program history at the time.
 
"I am truly honored to be inducted into the Hall of Fame," De Alva said. "This honor does not belong to me alone, but every coach, every teammate, and every supporter who believed in me. I was successful because I fell in love with the sport. I didn't care how tough it was because I was a Bronc. We worked really hard to put Pan Am on the map by playing bigger and taller opponents. I got the assists record because I passed the ball to [fellow Hall of Famer] Becky Dube Thomas. She never missed a shot, so I passed to her."
 
Doug Erickson, Men's Track & Field/Cross Country 1985-86
In cross country, Erickson holds the program record for the three-mile race with a time of 15:01.00. In indoor track & field, Erickson set the program record in the 3,000-meter run with time of 8:34.32, currently ranking 11^th. In outdoor track & field, he set a program record in the 3,000-meter run with time of 8:34.32, currently ranking fifth … Set program record in 10,000-meter run with time of 30:46.84, currently ranking fifth … Recorded second-fastest (now fifth) 5,000-meter run in program history at 14:34.83.
 
"Everything he did was at a high level," said Homer Martinez, who was the head track & field coach at Edinburg North High School, where Erickson was coaching as an assistant, when Erickson passed away on July 31, 2021, at the age of 57. "He did a great job as a coach and teacher. He was very good at academics and had strong people skills. He joined us at the Edinburg school district in 1991 and stayed with us for the rest of his time. He could have gone anywhere he wanted and was offered good college coaching jobs. He was that good of a coach. We had several regional championships and state qualifiers. He made a difference on kids' lives and he made a difference on me."
 
Omar Ortiz, Baseball, 1997-99
Only first round MLB Draft Pick in program history (29^th overall by San Diego Padres in 1999) … Ranks fifth in career strikeouts (283) … Ranks fourth in innings pitched (271.1) and tied for fifth in games started (45) … 1999 All-South Central Region and All-Independent First Team selection … Struck out program record 132 in 1999 … Averaged 9.36 strikeouts per nine innings, including 11.65 in 1999, with a 2.02:1 strikeout to walk ratio, including 2.75:1 in 1999 … Never allowed a home run at collegiate level … Got as high as AA in the Marlins organization in 2003.
 
"This whole path, this whole dream, this whole career started in Brownsville when I was six years old with constant training batting, taking 3,000 swings on each side every day," Ortiz said. "I was a third baseman in high school and only pitched on special occasions. On one of those special occasions there was a Pan Am coach, Shawn Moes, there to see someone else, but he wrote down my name and then coach Robert Valdez took me on a campus visit. I'm very thankful that coach Al Ogletree gave me a chance as a freshman."
 
Hall of Honor
Dr. Frederick (Ted) & Catharyn von Ende, UTRGV Professor Emeritus • Super Fans
Have attended all home volleyball and men's and women's basketball games for several
decades ... Make occasional road trips within Texas … Make custom signs to support student-athletes … Beloved by student-athletes and treated like part of their families ... Dr. Frederick von Ende served as a professor of English for 42 years at legacy institutions Pan American College, Pan American University, and University of Texas-Pan American ... Dr. Frederick von Ende holds the title of Professor Emeritus at UTRGV and was awarded this honor in Sept. 2014.
 
"Thank you, thank you for this very special honor," said Dr. von Ende, while holding up a sign with those words on it. "A lot of people going golfing, fishing, and hunting. We make signs. Catharyn and I are a team. We've gone to almost all the games together and cheered together. She uses her voice and I use my signs because I don't yell very well. We loving watching our teams and student-athletes of various sports. We love how athletics has helped to unify the institution and raise student involvement."

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